For the creation of an interactive play based on a science fiction that questions the idea of ‘othering’. The play will be performed in non-conventional venues like community halls, schools, colleges and independent theatre spaces to facilitate interactions with audiences who usually don’t watch theatre. The outcome of the grant will be two runs of the play with five shows.
For a two-phase workshop enquiring into the design and editing practices of Bengali Little Magazines, at a time when digital designing and desktop publishing is becoming the norm. Young practitioner participants will work together with mentor experts to create new aesthetic experiments. The outcomes of the grant will be a book and an exhibition from the materials of the workshop.
For a game designer to experiment with pushing the boundaries of both literary fiction and interactive games. The narrative will build an imaginary location and characters to interrogate ideas of colonial history, influenced by the works of major international authors. The outcomes of the grant will be an interactive fiction piece that will be free for download from gaming sites and a few smaller builds which can be showcased in exhibitions
For the creation of a dance piece that reinterprets a traditional Bharatanatyam composition called Mohamana. In the context of its history and the current practice of Bharatanatyam where the woman’s body has been constructed through the male gaze, this work attempts to de-objectify the female dancer’s body by questioning and critiquing the deeply embedded representations of Indian feminity in performance and in everyday life. The outcome will be a performance that will premiere at the Kochi Biennale in December, 2016 and will continue to be performed at the Biennale up to March 2017.
For support to aurally map two archaeological sites - Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh and Guruvayoor Temple, Kerala – by recording their ambisonic properties, as a pilot project for a much larger exercise in India. The attempt is to both challenge the dominant visual understanding of history of these sites, as well as study the effects of industrialisation on listening practices. The larger exercise will include recordings for five more sites to be archived on a web platform, enabling users to recreate the listening experience of those sites with any recorded sound. While the outcome of this project is a film on the process of this pilot project, an audio installation accompanied by lecture-demonstrations is hoped for at the end of the larger exercise.
For a grant supporting the creation of multiple artistic interpretations of Nabarun Bhattacharya’s novel Lubdhak. A graphic novel which will serve as a script for a feature length stop motion animation film later, will be created in the process. An electronic version of the graphic novel and a prototype of a short film for the animation will also be made. Grant funds will cover travel and food costs, material, props and lighting costs, professional fees, studio rental, documentation and an accountant’s fee.
For the creation of a performance themed around narratives of the hair. Titled ‘A Brief History of Your Hair’, the performance draws upon personal, historical, political and gender narratives of the hair and uses humour, playfulness and fantasy to unpack questions of identity, androgyny, gendered beauty and the way these ideas relate to each other across cultures. The performance is expected to premiere in March 2016. Grant funds will pay for professional fees, performance costs and production costs.
For the creation of a performance that explores the functioning body as contraposed to the performative and productive body. Primarily through the act of jumping, the project seeks to understand and engage with the body outside the frameworks of the performative, competitive, virtuosic or aesthetic. The performance will be created by a team of ten people from diverse backgrounds in the arts, fitness and sports.
For a graphic narrative and a series of performances, on the untold stories of migrant labourers and their tools, as they transform the history of the city of Delhi. These stories provide perspectives from those who have come from the outside to make this city their home, as the city grows in shape and size. A prototype of the graphic novel, performances and their documentation will be produced as outcomes.
For a production on the theme of the mobile phone and its impact on our lives, which is an extension of the theatre group’s endeavour of building theatre pieces based on objects. It questions the effect of technology on our individual and community lives, while simultaneously using the object and its social practices as material for the performance. While the production will be the main outcome of the grant, a detailed documentation of the processes including rehearsal notes, photographs and audio-video recordings, will also be delivered.
